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Element: before() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since ⁨April 2018⁩.

The Element.before() method inserts a set of Node objects or strings in the children list of this Element's parent, just before this Element. Strings are inserted as equivalent Text nodes.

Syntax

before(param1)
before(param1, param2)
before(param1, param2, /* …, */ paramN)

Parameters

param1, …, paramN: A set of Node objects or strings to insert.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

HierarchyRequestError DOMException: Thrown when the node cannot be inserted at the specified point in the hierarchy.

Examples

Inserting an element

let container = document.createElement("div");
let p = document.createElement("p");
container.appendChild(p);
let span = document.createElement("span");

p.before(span);

console.log(container.outerHTML);
// "<div><span></span><p></p></div>"

Inserting text

let container = document.createElement("div");
let p = document.createElement("p");
container.appendChild(p);

p.before("Text");

console.log(container.outerHTML);
// "<div>Text<p></p></div>"

Inserting an element and text

let container = document.createElement("div");
let p = document.createElement("p");
container.appendChild(p);
let span = document.createElement("span");

p.before(span, "Text");

console.log(container.outerHTML);
// "<div><span></span>Text<p></p></div>"

Specifications

Specification
DOM> # ref-for-dom-childnode-before①>

Browser compatibility

	Desktop					Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android	WebView on iOS
`before`	54	17	49	39	10	54	49	41	10	6.0	54	10